Belfair couple pleads guilty in nationwide identity-theft conspiracy

The Mason County couple who prosecutors say were key players in a "pretexting" conspiracy among private investigators from Texas to New York have pleaded guilty to conspiracy, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in federal court.

Emilio Torrella, 36, and his wife, Brandy, 27, of Belfair, admitted Tuesday to a scheme to illegally obtain confidential information on citizens for law firms, insurance companies and collection agencies.

The Torrellas are owners of BNT Investigations, which federal prosecutors say was at the center of a nationwide investigation prosecutors dubbed "Operation Dialing for Dollars." The investigation targeted private investigators who lied to government agencies, including the Social Security Administration and Internal Revenue Service, to obtain confidential information on citizens.

Ten people, including the Torrellas, were indicted by a Seattle grand jury in December. U.S. Attorney Jeff Sullivan at the time said it was only the second prosecution ever of the illegal practice of "pretexting" — the first involved executives in the 2005 boardroom spy scandal that shook up management at computer giant Hewlett-Packard.

According to the plea agreement, the Torrellas allegedly used trickery and technology to seek information from state and federal agencies on as many as 1,800 people between 2005 and 2007. They included hospital records, records of people's medications and income-tax returns.

The Torrellas were not licensed as investigators in Washington state.

According to prosecutors, it worked like this: The Torrellas would obtain information about a target from clients or another private investigator — usually a name, date of birth and a Social Security number.

Using that information, the Torrellas or an employee would then pose as that person on the telephone and persuade employees at state and federal agencies to turn over additional confidential information that should be available only to the individual. The other eight people indicted were private eyes who allegedly used BNT for these services.

As part of the plea agreement, the Torrellas have agreed to cooperate with federal agents in an ongoing investigation into the law firms, insurance companies and others who used the Torrella's illegally obtained information.

Mike Carter: 206-464-3706 or mcarter@seattletimes.com